The Astonishing Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Transcript

Well, good morning church family. Please turn now, if you will, in your copy of God's Word to Mark chapter 16. Our sermon text on this resurrection Sunday morning will be Mark chapter 16 beginning in verse 1 and we will read down through verse 8. And I invite you, if you are able, to please stand in the honor of reading of Holy Scripture as we come to God's Word. Mark 16 beginning now in verse 1.

This is the Word of the Living God. "When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Siloam bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had arisen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?' And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back. It was very large.

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here.

See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Please join me now in prayer. Father in heaven, it is a great joy and privilege to come and to sit under the authority of your word this morning and on this Resurrection Sunday. And Father, we simply ask now at this time that you would build us up in the truth of your word as we consider the gospel and especially here this morning, the powerful resurrection of our Savior and King. We ask all of this in Christ's holy name. Amen.

You may be seated. Well, it is a joy to be able to come and to preach on this Resurrection Sunday morning. I firmly believe and I trust that almost everyone in this room would agree that there is nothing more joyful and more hope-inducing than the hope of the Resurrection. And I'm thankful that we have the opportunity to reflect on that for just a few minutes this morning. Of course, the Resurrection should be proclaimed every Sunday because the Resurrection is a non-negotiable element of the gospel and our goal as ministers of the gospel and really as a church is to come together and to consider the gospel every Sunday.

But nevertheless, it is a joy in early spring on an annual basis to celebrate Resurrection Sunday with Christ Church and proclaim that He is risen. Now from the start, I'll confess in preparing for this this week that I felt the pressure of selecting a passage of Scripture that specifically emphasizes the element of joy as we think about the Resurrection. And that really should be easy enough to understand why. We Christians know that our meditations upon the Resurrection should produce joy within us. We know that the Resurrection confirms that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He was.

We know that the Resurrection is the basis for our justification and even our future hope. And we know that in Christ's Resurrection, He defeated sin and death and the devil forever. Those meditations should always produce joy in our hearts. So of course, naturally, I wanted to select the passage that would emphasize the joy that we should have in light of the Resurrection. And of course, the easiest way to do that would be to look to the four gospels and think about one that you would choose.

Matthew would be the easiest. Matthew 28 verse 8 says that the women departed from the tomb with great joy. So that's pretty easy to emphasize and note. And while Luke doesn't include the word joy, he does show how the women went to the tomb, how they heard the message of Christ's Resurrection, how they went and told the disciples, and how Peter himself goes to investigate the tomb and leaves marveling. And in John's account, Peter and John investigate the tomb.

They of course believe and then we also see Christ appearance to Mary Magdalene and her excitement at seeing the risen Lord. All of those are good and easy selections to emphasize the Resurrection and the element of joy. But the one gospel narrative you are not selecting is Mark. Mark's the problematic one. And it's problematic for a few reasons, even leaving us with some questions.

Number one, you can't even begin to deal with Mark's resurrection account until you come to a position on where the chapter actually ends. In case you don't know, this is a matter of debate. But second, if you take Mark's account to end at verse 8, as I personally do, then you realize that Mark's account is the shortest of the resurrection narratives. And of course we know that we like all of the details that come to us from the different accounts. But Mark really doesn't give us that many.

And additionally, if Mark's gospel ends at verse 8, as I believe that it does, then this becomes the only gospel account where we do not have a post resurrection appearance of Christ to the women or to his disciples. And then finally, look back at verse 8. This is how I believe the book ends. Verse 8, "And the women, they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Now just think for just a moment about how seemingly confusing that ending actually is. We don't get any post resurrection appearance from Christ.

We don't get any words from his disciples. We don't get any words from the women at all. As a matter of fact, Mark doesn't even tell us that they made it to the disciples, that the women got there and told them what the angel said. The text actually says, "And they said nothing to anyone." So just reading that ending and making some simple observations, it would be real easy to look at that and say, "Yeah, you know what? Let's flip over to Matthew.

Let's go to Luke. Let's go to John. Maybe this is not the one that we want to choose." And so naturally, this is the one I chose. And I'll confess, as some of you know, Mark is my personal favorite gospel, so that did have a little bit to do with this, as to why I chose to preach from this particular account. But I also wanted to lead us through Mark 16 this morning for this very specific reason.

If you and I will take the time to understand how Mark writes, and if we'll notice a certain pattern that he writes with throughout the entire book, then we can understand why he ends the book this specific way. And far from being a problematic ending that leaves us confused, we really can know that this ending is so good. It's so good. In fact, I wouldn't mind saying the word. It's beautiful.

It's amazing. It's astonishing, which is a key word from the text that we'll see in just a moment. And that's what I want us to see this morning. I want us to, of course, consider the details of the text, but ultimately, I want us to see why this particular ending should usher us into a reverent meditation on the significance of Christ's resurrection, which, of course, is exactly the very thing that we should be thinking about on resurrection Sunday morning. And I trust that God's word will guide us towards that end.

Now, the outline for this sermon should be easy enough to follow. It's just three points, and I'll give them to you now from the start. First, I want to touch on the ending of Mark 16 in order to justify why I think we can reasonably believe the book ends at verse eight. But then second, I want us to observe and pay careful attention to the details that Mark emphasizes and what makes his account so unique from the others. And then finally, I want us to consider the theological implications of the resurrection and how it should be impacting us every single day, not just resurrection Sunday, but every day of our Christian lives.

So with all of that in mind and with that goal in mind, let's dive in now, ironically, where we should start, which is at the very end. Let's start with the ending. What do we do with the end of Mark's gospel? Now, if you're reading from the ESV this morning, which is what we normally preach from, you'll note after verse eight a bracketed statement that reads this way. Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include verses nine through 20.

And then verse nine through 20 are also included within parenthetical brackets that you see following shortly after that. Now, that detail alone should be enough to inform us that there really is serious debate amongst New Testament scholars and modern translators as to whether or not verses nine through 20 was originally penned by Mark. Some scholars will emphasize that there are many manuscript copies of Mark where we do have access and do see verses nine through 20 included at the end of the book. And other scholars will emphasize the true verified fact that the two earliest and most reliable manuscript copies that we have of the book do not include verses nine through 20. And of course, the one thing that no Christian ever wants to be guilty of is adding or taking away from Holy Scripture.

So this is a very serious subject and it has very serious implications. And so what do we do? Well, first and foremost, even as someone who believes that the book ends at verse eight, I do not think it would be wise for anyone to potentially remove verses nine through 20 from our modern translations. For one reason, there is a chance that folks like me are wrong. And of course, we would never want to be guilty of taking away from something that could be Scripture.

But then also, the reality is that Christ Church for many, many centuries has been familiar with this longer ending as it's often called, and has been encouraged by it in some ways. So even if it's not original, it's still uniquely historic. And it does contain some details that align with the other gospel accounts, especially with what we see at the end of Luke's gospel, and then also some details that we see in the book of Acts as well. And for that reason, while I don't think verses nine through 20 are originally written by Mark, there is benefit to knowing them and being familiar with them. But at the end of the day, I do think there's good reasons to believe that the book ends at verse eight.

And without diving into too many details there and getting too much into the weeds of that, I'll just give three main reasons, and then maybe one or two others, for why I think the book should end and really does end at verse eight. Number one, it is true that the earliest and most reliable manuscript copies that we have containing the ending of Mark's gospel do not include verses nine through 20. That's a strong enough argument. But also, number two, we have statements from church history in the writings of Jerome and even Eusebius, the well-known church historian, that the majority of Mark copies available in their day did not include verses nine through 20. Now that doesn't mean there weren't some, but the majority of them did not include this ending.

And then finally, multiple commentators and New Testament scholars have noted that the writing style in the Greek and in the syntax of verses nine through 20 seems to be very different from all the writing that we see earlier in the gospel of Mark. So for those basic reasons, I do think it's a safe bet to assume that verses nine through 20 is not original. And of course, the obvious impact that has on how we approach this chapter, if you share that opinion with me, is that now we have to ask the question why Mark ends here. Why does he end at verse eight? Why would Mark, who knew that Jesus appeared to the women and later the disciples, not include those details?

Why does Mark only tell us that the women were alarmed and that they went out trembling and were astonished and fearful rather than communicating a sense of joy? And why does he say specifically in verse eight that they told no one? After all, just put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn't the very thing you want to do after this is be going and telling everyone? So why does he include that detail?

And don't the other gospel accounts go on to tell us that the women did in fact go and tell the disciples what they saw and what they knew to be true? And so what do we do with this? Well, here's the good news. The good news for us this morning is this figuring out why Mark's gospel ends this way is not an impossible task. As a matter of fact, it's actually fairly easy to figure out if you just have one important discipline and tool at your disposal.

And it's called reading in context. If we have the ability to read in context, we can figure out why Mark ends this way. And you may say, "Well, Pastor Dylan, what context?" Are you talking about the few previous verses, the last chapter or two? No, I'm talking about the entire book, the entire book from beginning to end. If we know how to read the whole book together as a unified whole in context, we can figure out what Mark's doing.

And if we have read through Mark many times, then we're likely familiar that Mark writes in a unique way. He also starts in a unique way. He progresses in a unique way. And specifically, he utilizes a pattern of shock and awe over and over again that we see in the book. So just consider these few details from the book of Mark as we kind of consider that.

Of course, we'd love to stop at this point and just go read the gospel of Mark, but we don't have time to do that, though I do think you should do it later. Mark starts the book rather abruptly. So his ending the book in a very abrupt fashion really isn't that out of character. That's often a criticism to this ending. Why would he end in such an abrupt way?

Well, he starts in an abrupt way. Mark doesn't give us a birth narrative of Christ like Matthew and Luke do. And where John takes more time and space in chapter one of his gospel to craft lofty theological statements that slowly build up into Christ's ministry. In Mark chapter one, we get Jesus being baptized just nine verses into the book. You've got to wait until halfway through chapter three of Matthew and Luke to get to that point.

Mark gets us there by verse nine. And all you get of Mark with regard to the birth narrative is a grand total of zero details. All you get in verse one of chapter one is this, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then you jump right into John's, or excuse me, Mark's general introduction that leads right into Jesus' baptism that follows. That is abrupt. And in some ways, if you start reading through Mark's gospel again, you kind of feel like you've jumped right into the middle of a movie that really started about 30 or 45 minutes ago, right?

Especially if you're familiar with the other gospels. And consider this detail also. This was mentioned a moment ago, but this applies to what we're talking about right now. Mark moves through his gospel with a very fast pace. Very, very fast.

He flies through the narrative. And sometimes when reading through Mark's gospel, you can almost feel the temptation to want to peek over to Matthew or Luke and see if any details are being left out because the narrative is just moving that quickly. And so rather than emphasizing a lot of individual details, the one thing that we do see Mark emphasizing over and over again is this simple thought, that Jesus Christ really is the mighty Messiah of God, who in his ministry, in his teaching, and in his miracles is constantly displaying the power of God. Let me say that again. Mark is constantly emphasizing that, that Jesus Christ is the mighty Messiah of God, who through his teaching and through his miracles is displaying the power of God.

And we can see that by reading back through the book and paying careful attention to how Mark records people responding to Jesus. And once you see this, you're immediately going to see why the book ends this way and why it's so helpful. So just listen to all these details. This is just a quick walkthrough of the entire book. But in Mark's first introduction to how crowds of people respond to Jesus in chapter 1, verse 22, we read that they were astonished.

After the healing of the paralytic at the beginning of chapter 2, we read in verse 12, quote, "They were all amazed and glorified God saying, 'We never saw anything like this.'" After Jesus calms the wind and the waves at the end of chapter 4, we read, quote, "And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, 'Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey them?'" In chapter 5, after Jesus drives out the demons from the demoniac, we read, quote, "That the people saw the man sitting and in his right mind and they were afraid." In Mark 9, at the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John are said to, quote, "Become terrified when they see Christ in his glory." In chapter 10, when Jesus walks ahead of the disciples being resolute and focused on getting to Jerusalem, the text says that they were all amazed and fearful. After Jesus cleanses the temple in Mark 11, the chief priest and the scribes are said to have been fearful and all the crowds were astonished. In Mark 12, after Jesus corrects the Pharisees and the Herodians on the matter of paying taxes and rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's, the text says that they marveled at him. And in Mark 15, just before our text this morning, Pilate is recorded as being amazed by Christ because he remained silent before his accusers, which of course is fulfillment of Old Testament expectation of the Messiah. So what we have in Mark's gospel is not only a fast-paced narrative that frequently gives us a repetition of the word immediately that really flies us through the narrative, but what we also have is the same basic response when people encounter Jesus and see the mighty power of God.

They were amazed, astonished, and afraid, and sometimes the word fearful is used. So if you know that and someone were to walk up to you and ask you the question, how did people often respond to Jesus when they encountered him? Based on what we read in Mark's gospel, how did they often respond? We could respond this way. People were amazed, they were astonished, and oftentimes they were afraid, and they were fearful.

Now why? Why does Mark show us that pattern over and over again? And here's why, and this is the point I really want to drive home, and this should be obvious enough, but when you see this and you see how it connects, it really is a beautiful thing. The reason this is so important is because this is always how people respond when they come in contact with the almighty power of God. That is always how people respond.

They always respond being amazed and being astonished, and yes, sometimes being fearful and even afraid. So now we come to the end of the book, chapter 16, and what responses do we see? Verse 8, "They went out trembling, they were astonished, and they were fearful." Brothers and sisters, that is not an inconsistent way for Mark to end this book. That's perfectly consistent with everything else he's already done leading up to this point. So that's how that should make sense to us, and that should lead us right into the second main point I mentioned earlier, which is this, beginning to note how Mark is unique in his resurrection account, and we have to start right here.

Mark's emphasizing the alarming and the astonishing nature of what's taking place, and even the fearful nature of it. And when we realize that Mark is wanting to drive home that point, even to the implied ending that we too should feel the same as we think about the resurrection of Christ, then we can start to look back on the other details that he emphasizes in this passage and see how those details are also intended to add to that same idea. So for example, just reading through this resurrection account, if you read through it very carefully and you ask yourself, "What's unique here? What's really, really unique and specific only to Mark?" One of the very first things you'll notice is that Mark is the only gospel writer that explicitly mentions that the stone was very large. He's the only one.

Now you say, "Well, we know that." Right, you do know it, and you know that explicit detail because of Mark. John and Luke tell us that the stone was rolled away, but they don't explicitly tell us that it was large. Matthew gives us the detail that an angel came down from heaven and rolled the stone away, and of course that implies the size of the stone, but neither Matthew, Luke, or John explicitly mention the size of the stone. And they do not include the fact that the women were discussing among themselves on the way to the tomb of who could help them move this massive stone. Only Mark records that detail.

Why? Why does Mark uniquely and explicitly mention the size of the stone and the women's discussing it? Well, because of the obvious impossibility of anyone else being able to move it. And by not including the detail that an angel came down from heaven to move the stone as Matthew records, all we get in Mark's gospel is a scene that invokes alarm and trembling and astonishment and fear with seemingly no explanation at all as to how the stone was moved. These details don't take away from the astonishment.

They add to it. And that's why he gives us this detail. And the effect is that it has upon us this sense of shock. And yes, in some ways it does leave us asking some questions, but it doesn't leave us asking questions assuming that the resurrection isn't true. It leaves us in shock and it leaves us asking some questions because of the obvious implication that the resurrection is true.

And the astonished response here at this scene and knowing the weight of all that has just taken place and the crystal clear announcement from the angel sent by God tells us with absolute certainty that God has once again put on his mighty power. That's what the shock, that's what the awe, that's what the astonishment is intended to communicate. And it's intended to leave us with this ending that says, "Wow, it's true." He really is risen. To quote the angel, just as he said, he really is risen. And that fact leaves the women trembling.

It leaves them with a holy reverence before Almighty God and it leaves them astonished that he really is risen from the grave. Brothers and sisters, let me say this to you this morning. May God give us grace on a daily basis, not just on Resurrection Sunday, but may God give us grace on a daily basis that as we think through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would always be left astonished and amazed and yes, fearful. But not fearful of the judgment of God, but fearful because of all of the holy and blessed implications of the fact that it's true. That is always how we should think and respond to the truth that Christ is risen.

Now, before moving on to the theological implications of that amazing truth, one other point should be made. And there's a few others in specific detail that could be made, but for the sake of time, I just want to emphasize this one. One other detail that Mark emphasizes that actually is not unique to him, but all the other gospel writers include as well. And that is the fact that the first eyewitness testimony from the empty tomb came from women. It came from women.

Now, for everyone in this room who's a born-again believer who understands that women are made in the image of God the same as men, that detail doesn't really jump off the page to us as something that's very important. But here's the unfortunate reality. In this day, the Jews did not value the testimony of women, even so much so that their testimony in court was not considered reliable. If a man in court gave testimony to specific details of a case and then a woman came and gave the same details, the man's testimony would be trusted. The woman's likely would not, simply because she was a woman.

That is an unfortunate reality that was true in their day. And the reason that in fact matters so much is because it provides us with a powerful apologetic in defense of the details that this is what really happened. If, as some unbelievers and critics say, that the apostles and followers of Christ just made up the story of the resurrection, then why in the world would they ever stake the first eyewitness testimony of this on women, fully knowing that their testimony wouldn't be accepted? That doesn't make any sense at all. But of course it makes all the sense in the world if the gospel writers and Mark included approach this and are just thinking what actually happened?

What are the facts? Who got their first? Who is the first eyewitness? And of course that's what they're doing. And so this detail of the women's testimony being so important in the initial transmission of the resurrection announcement is even more evidence to prove the Bible's accuracy.

So Mark not only gives us the historically accurate facts of the account, but just as some commentators will note, the book's ending in this seemingly abrupt way and its emphasis on the astonishment that the women felt at the angelic announcement, it naturally invites you to feel the same way. And it invites you to stop and to think about what you would do and how you will respond to that same announcement that is so obviously true. The end of Mark 16 is not designed to leave us confused. It is designed to give us the short and simple proclamation that Christ is alive. And then it forces us to make an opinion and respond, which is what people should always do when they hear the gospel.

And so the obvious implication is what will you and I do with this news? Will we believe it? And are we too astonished by the truth of the resurrection? And so for those reasons, I really do believe that Mark 16 8 ends in such an amazing and unique and beautiful way. Now finally then, I want to briefly remind us by quoting from some other relevant verses from scripture of the weight and significance of Christ's resurrection and what it means and what it actually achieves.

So very briefly then, if it is true that Christ has risen again from the grave, then here's what that means for us. It means there's hope. It means there's hope. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again through a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Brothers and sisters, hear me clearly this morning, if Christ has not risen from the grave, you have no hope.

There's no hope if He's not risen from the grave. Just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, "If Christ is not raised, then our faith is in vain. And if Christ is not raised, then our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. And if in Christ we have no hope of the resurrection and instead we have hope in this life only, then we as Christians," to quote Paul, "are most to be pitied." We are most to be pitied. But because the resurrection is true, there is hope.

It's a living hope. And then continuing in 1 Peter 1, "It's a living hope that comes with an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading that is kept in heaven for us." And the resurrection of Christ produces that hope within His elect people because as Peter says, it's through Christ's resurrection that we are born again. The Holy Spirit in the miracle of regeneration gives us a new heart and eternal life to God's chosen people. That's who He gives it to. And He gives it to those people for whom Christ died and for whom Christ rose again from the dead.

That's how that connects in our theology. So brothers and sisters, Christ died to pay the price for our sins and in His resurrection, He secured our regeneration and our new life and our new hope in Him. And that's just from a few verses. That's just the start. It gets better.

"By His resurrection that the Lord Jesus predicted on numerous occasions, He proved that He was sovereignly in control of the events of the Passion Week, and that He laid down His own life once it was finished on His authority, and that He took it back up again, proving that He really was the Son of God." Just as Paul says in Romans chapter 1, "He was declared to be the Son of God and power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead." Brothers and sisters, the resurrection proves His identity as the eternally begotten Son of God who is God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made and of one being with the Father. That is proven because He is no longer in the grave. Furthermore, the resurrection proves that God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of His people. Romans chapter 4 verse 25, Paul writes that Christ was delivered up for our trespasses, that's our sins, and then raised up for our justification. His rising again from the grave is the basis of our justification, and it proves that God accepted His sacrifice.

That's how those things are connected, the sacrifice, the resurrection, and our justification. If there is no resurrection, then we are not justified, and if we're not justified, we're guilty before holy God and we have no hope. All of this connects together in such a beautiful way. Furthermore, the resurrection proves that Christ has conquered death. To hit on a personal note this morning, how many of you have lost loved ones recently and in recent years, and you feel uniquely the pangs of death, and you long to know whether or not this great enemy can be defeated.

Acts chapter 2 verse 24, God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. Christ conquered death. To quote our brother in the Lord, R.C. Sproul, I love this quote, people love to ask, how could a man rise again from the dead? But the New Testament authors look at it from an entirely different perspective, asking how would it ever be possible for Christ to stay in the grave?

How would that even be possible? Because He's God and because of course He is more than able to conquer sin and death. Furthermore, the resurrection proves that Christ has conquered the devil. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, He Himself likewise partook of the same things that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. Now presently on Sunday mornings we've been going through the book of Exodus and we've been reminded a few times of the symbolism of the serpent in Egypt and how that reminds us of all the pantheon of false gods and the false religions of Egypt being spiritually energized by that ancient serpent, Satan himself.

And even as you read through the beginning of Exodus, you might perhaps wonder, is he going to be conquered? And the answer is yes, and he has been. It's just not in the book of Exodus, it happens later at the cross and in the resurrection. Our Savior has conquered the devil. And the resurrection proves furthermore from 1 Corinthians 15, that Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep and that His bodily resurrection secures our future bodily resurrection as well in glory.

And then going on again, we could do this more and more, but quoting again in Hebrews chapter 7, the author of Hebrews says that our Savior always lives to make intercession for us. We know that after His resurrection and ascension He entered into the holy places and offered that final atonement so that He always can make intercession for His people. If there is no resurrection, there is no intercession. And if there is no intercession, then we cannot approach God. So why then is the resurrection so important to us?

In short, if the resurrection is true, we have everything. If the resurrection is not true, we have nothing. If the resurrection is true, it means that we who have repented of our sins and placed our faith and trust in Christ have new and eternal life. It means that we have hope, a living hope. It means that Christ's blood on that cross 2000 years ago really did atone for all of our sins.

It means that sin is conquered. It means that death is conquered. It means that Satan himself is conquered. And it means that we will one day be given by God's grace glorified resurrected bodies where we will dwell with Christ in glory forever in the new heavens and the new earth. It means everything.

That's what the resurrection means. It is everything to us. It's the foundation for every hope that we have. And so could it be, and I'll conclude this way, could it be that on that Sunday morning, trembling with fear, fleeing from the tomb, that the women were astonished because for the very first time, they were beginning to understand that all of those salvation promises and benefits were actually true. That everything that Jesus said really was true.

That he really is the Son of God. That he really did come to bring eternal life to all who would place their faith and trust in him. I think that's exactly what was happening. And it's why they were overcome with astonishment. And so in some ways it would be appropriate to end the sermon in an abrupt way because that's how Mark ends the book.

And so I'll end now by asking an abrupt question and I hope this lands on you in a good way. Are you astonished by the resurrection? Are you astonished by it? Does it produce awe and shock and yes, even a holy and reverential fear in your heart as you think about it? Because that's the only appropriate response we should have.

Now the unique thing is this. If we really are truly astonished by the resurrection of Christ, it will be proven by the way in which we live. And it's a joy to know that this church is full of believers who have been born again by the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit to that new and living hope. So that as we live on a daily basis, not perfectly, but in a godly direction, turning away from our sins, placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that we do prove that we really are astonished by the resurrection. But there is always the fear that there are individuals who perhaps will say that they are astonished and then go on to prove by the way that they live that they really are not.

The only appropriate response that you and I can have to the resurrection and Mark's account or any of the others is to be astonished. And so are you astonished? Are you truly amazed? Has that changed the way that you live by God's grace? And is that proven on a daily basis, not just resurrection Sunday, but tomorrow morning and next Sunday and next Sunday and next Sunday into Advent season and then after that leading into next year on resurrection Sunday?

I'm not asking you if you're astonished right now. I'm asking you if you're astonished all the time. Are you astonished by the resurrection of Christ? Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this morning and we thank you for the opportunity that we've had to consider anew your power put on display in the death and resurrection of our Savior and Lord.

Father, for the saints who are born again to that living hope in Christ, I pray, Lord, would you never ever, Lord, cause us to stop being amazed by the resurrection? Father, would you help us to remember that all of our theological musings and understandings will never outgrow that simple truth even into all of eternity? And Father, if there is any individual here this morning who has not yet turned away from their sins and placed their faith and trust in the risen Savior and Lord. And Father, I pray, would you please this morning in the name of Jesus, would you please lift the veil from their eyes so that they too for the first time can be truly astonished by the fact that Christ is risen from the dead? And Father, as we continue now in worship through giving, would you help us to give joyfully and cheerfully knowing that the resurrection is true?

And that because it's true, your son reigns in glory even now, always with his church, never abandoning them, and always spurring them forward in faithful ministry, which is what we have the opportunity to do in giving. So, Father, help us to remember our resurrected Lord as we give joyfully and cheerfully. And would you please use these funds to advance the budgetary needs in the life of this church so that we as a body can continue to proclaim this same good news of our risen Lord. And we ask all of this in Christ's holy name, amen.